COMMUNICATIVE

STRATEGIES

2nd PERIODICAL COVERAGE

• A women from the lowlands visited a particular ethnic
group. Being tired, she sat down on top of a grain mortar.
Sometime later, three men approached her and asked her
who among them she wanted to marry. This was because
of her culture, when a women sits on a grain of mortar,
she is signaling her sign to look for a husband.

• However the woman from the lowlands did not know that.
It took a lot of clarification and intervention from the village
chief and from the woman’s companions to
Communicative strategies are attempts by participants
in a communication activity, but mainly by the speaker
to express his or her ideas in a way that minimize a
breakdown in communication.

There are many communication strategies employed

by different speakers and even by listeners. However,
only nomination, restriction, turn-taking, topic control,
topic shifting, repair and termination will be discussed
here.
Nomination

At the start of a discussion of speech, the topic must be

identified or nominated. Nominating a topic allows the listeners
or audience to tune in to the topic, recall backround information
they have about it, and prepare them to listen to what is to be
said about the topic. Good topic nomination helps prevent
communication breakdown. Several forms or expression can be
used for topic nominations:
• Lets talk about...
• I would like to talk about...
• Today i am going to discuss/talk about...
Restriction
A speaker must restrict the topic of discussion to make it
specific enough to be manageable. This restriction is
determined and limited by the amount of time given to a
speaker. Since the time is limited, the speaker must take it
clear to the audice where he or she restricts the discussion. A
topic must be restricted so that it can be properly discussed
fully, resulting in better communication.

For example, a broad topic may require more than an hour to

discuss, but a topic that is properly restricted would have
enough time for discussion and even questions.
Reflect

• Why is it important for a small group

discussions to restrict the topic?
Turn-taking

• Turn-taking during discussion involves changing

from one speaker to another in a way that does not
disrupt the communication process. In a proper turn
taking, speakers must know when to take their turn
or allow others to speak. To do this, participants
need to be sensitive to signals that show when they
can speak.
Reflect

• What would happen if participants in a

discussion do not know how to turn- taking
properly?
Topic Control

• Topic control means the speaker should focus

on the topic without straying into other
discussions. Speaker must not allow any
incidental mention of other topics from taking
attention away from what he or she is talking
about. In addition, the speaker must now give
extended illustrations that are too long such
that the audience forgets it connection to the
topic.
Reflect

• How is topic control different from restriction?

Topic Shifting
When changing from one topic to another, the speaker should prepare the
audience or listeners for the change. The change must be done smoothly by
using known expression that signal a change of topic.
Topic Shifting in communicative strategy may affect the message. Some
listeners who are not ready for a shift in topic may develop different reactions
such as a feeling that the speaker has not fully discussed the topic.
• Forms used when shifting topic including the following:
• Let us now turn to the issue/ topic of...
• I will now talk about...
• In addition(Current topic), there is also the (Next topic).
Repair

• Sometimes a speaker is misunderstood by the audience. In

this case, the speaker must clarify what he or she is saying.
Particulary attention must be given to the piece of utterance
that produced misunderstanding, the Speaker must repair
this miscommunication by rephrasing or using other words
that express the meaning better to his or her audience.
Sometimes, the misunderstanding is brought about by
mispronunciation or any other error in physical production of
speech. In this case, the speaker must restate what was
said.
Several forms can be conveniently used to
signal repair. They inlcude the following:
• I mean...
• What i mean...
• Let me rephras that..., In other words...
• Let be say that again.
Termination
• Any speech or discussion must be terminated
properly. Without doing so, the listeners or
participants would be left wondering what happened
to the discussion and will not understand whether
the topic was fully discussed or not. One way to
terminate a speech or a discussion is to restate the
main idea of the speech in a way that is memorable
to the listeners. Another is to give a summary of
discussion.
Sometimes the speaker uses familiar forms
that signal termination of speech or
discussion. Forms used to terminate a
discussion or a speech include the following:
• Let me end by saying...
• In conclusion...
• We were able to discuss...
COMMUNICATION
SUPPORT
STRATEGIES
2nd PERIODICAL COVERAGE
 A breakdown in communication is always
possible in any interaction. However, we can
minimize communication breakdown by
employing several strategies. This includes
asking for clarification, repetition,
rephrasing, using nonverbal language, and
building on what others have said.
Asking for clarification

Asking for clarification is probably the most

common way of preventing a breakdown in
communication. Whenever possible, we ask the
people we talk with or anyone giving a lecture
or speech to clarify what they are trying to
express if we think we do not understand them.
We must note then, that there are different
ways of asking for clarification based on the
formality of a situation, differences in rank
between speaker and listener, and the level of
intimacy between the speaker and listener.
• For example,it would be impolite to ask someone to clarify
what he or she said by a simple “What?” if the speaker is
someone of higher rank even if we have known the
person for a long time or if the speaker is one of our
elders. However, “What?” is perfectly acceptable for
asking for clarification between close friends.
Below is a table showing different expressions used
for asking for clarification.

INFORMAL FORMAL
• What? • Mary I request you to
• Can you say that again? repeat what you said?
• Pardon? • Could you please say
• What did you just say? that again?
• Say it again? • I’m sorry?
Repetition
• A Speaker may repeat what he or she said if
he or she feels that the listeners did not
understand fully what was said.
• A speaker may also repeat an utterance to
make sure that the listeners do not
misunderstand it. Repetition is a very useful
way of preventing a communication
breakdown. However too much repetition can
irritate listeners.
Rephrasing
• Rephrasing involves repeating the same
messages using different words or
expressions. Listeners, especially the ones
who are not very good in the language
spoken, may not be familiar with the certain
word, phrase, or expression.
• One particular element that may need rephrasing is an
idiom. When speaker uses an idiom, less proficient
listeners may not understand it. For this reason, the
speaker may have to rephrase the idiom using more
literal wording.

Example of an idiom:
• Cheapskate: someone who hates to spend money.
• Down-To-Earth: sensible and realistic.
• Spill the beans: To give away a secret
• Through thick and thin: To be loyal no matter what.
Using Non-Verbal Language
• Using nonverbal language is another very common way
of preventing communication breakdown. This strategy is
used particularly when atleast one of the participants is
not proficient in the language. It can also be employed
when the spoken utterances are difficult to preceive as
when speaking in a noisy environment, when the speaker
has difficulty in speaking or when the listener has difficulty
in listening.
Building on what others Have Said
• During a discussion, a speaker can express his or her
ideas well by using the words, phrases, or ideas that have
been previously stated by other participants in the
discussion.
• In this way, The speaker is capitalizing on what others
have already given. Also, building on what others have
said creates a connection between speakers and listeners
because the speaker affirms what others have already
spoken, giving them the sense of Importance.
END